NEW JERSEY FARM PRODUCTS ARE ABOUT TO BECOME MUCH MORE EXCITING!

In 2024, the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey (NOFA NJ) purchased a commercial kitchen on Bridge Street in Milford, NJ! We're currently fundraising to renovate the kitchens, offices, and garden to create a community food engagement center that can support local farms and food businesses - part community kitchen, part education center, part event venue - as well as house the NOFA NJ offices.

Now called Farmers Process, the 1800's property has a long history of supporting local food in Hunterdon County.

The building previously housed local favorites such as the Milford Oyster House, The Lovin' Oven, and The Potager. NOFA NJ's focus at Farmers Process will be to support local farms in creating value added products, turning their tomatoes into sauce, cabbage into kimchi, basil into pesto, etc... This is the first stage in what we hope to grow into a state-wide effort to support farmer processing.

Working hand-in-hand with local farmers, NOFA NJ will provide technical support with creating value-added products.

Value-added processing supports farms and local food systems by:

Reducing Food Waste: Turn blemished or "imperfect" produce into a marketable product
Increasing Farmer Profits: Specialty food products offer higher returns for the farmer than fresh produce
Creating Market Opportunities: Shelf-stable products can be sold year-round to retailers, distributors, and directly to customers, including at the Farmers Process location.

Support activities include obtaining food safety certifications, developing recipes, obtaining scheduled process, sourcing packaging material, creating labels, marketing their product, and more.

Farmers Process will also serve as a community kitchen.

We hope to enable small food businesses (such as bakers, food trucks, caterers, and more) to rent the space and produce food in a clean, well-equipped certified kitchen. Keeping costs low and encouraging the use of locally-produced ingredients, NOFA NJ hopes to connect these small food businesses with area farmers and increase the variety of local foods in the region.

To support the needs of the space, NOFA NJ is fundraising for the following items:

Steam Kettle Processor $7,000
Convection Oven $6,000
Commercial Grade Mixer $5,000
Commercial Grade Freeze Dryer $3,000
Commercial Grade Food Processor $2,500
Commercial Filling Machine $1,000
Commercial Vacuum Sealer $500
Upgrades to Kitchen Walls & Lighting $1,500
Professional/Technical Food Processing Education $20,000
Garden & Patio Renovation $2,500
Workspace Furniture $1,000
Goal: $50,000

Check out this walk-through from August, 2024!

Farmers Process will also host a variety of community-forward workshops and classes.

Attendees will have fun while learning the skills needed to make the most of each season's harvest. Offering up small-group classes on canning, pickling, preserving, baking, cheesemaking, and more, participants will be able to learn from local food artisans and professionals and apply the skills learned at home or while renting the kitchen space for their own use.

As NOFA NJ engages farmers throughout the Garden State, we repeatedly hear from farmers about the need for support with value-added processing.

Significant inspiration for this project also comes from supply chain disruptions throughout 2020, when store shelves sat empty while farm fields were full of produce ready to be turned into a variety of packaged foods for local consumers. It's time for NJ farmers to be supported with value-added processing to increase farmer profits, reduce food waste, increase local food security, and create artisan products to display what the Garden State has to offer.

Support Farmers Process and put your mark on the building today. Donor perks include:

$100+ Donors will be invited to the Farmers Process kitchen launch party in Spring 2025.
$500+ Donors can elect to have their name included on interior signage and digital communications.
$1,000+ Donors can elect to have their name/logo included on interior display signage along with promotion via digital communications.
$5,000+ Donors can elect to be included as presenting sponsors, with all perks listed above and prominent inclusion on all Farmers Process communications in 2025.

Additional sponsorship inquiries are most welcome; please contact nofainfo@nofanj.org for an arrangement tailored to your interests, such as sponsorship of a program or event(s).

Your Donation Today Supports the Future of Good Food and Profitable Farming in New Jersey!

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey (NOFA-NJ) has been dedicated to supporting organic food and agriculture in New Jersey through education, technical assistance, and policy action since 1985.

NOFA NJ is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization; donations to NOFA NJ are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. NOFA NJ EIN 22-3043823.

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